C.S. Lewis Reading Room

Note: this content was originally curated by Arnold Neufeldt-Fast and is no longer being maintained. Some links may not work. Content posted for archival purposes only.

This page is designed to help make writings on and by C.S. Lewis available to those without easy access to a university library. Many of the links connect you to scanned, published books and articles made available by Google Books (often 75% of content). Importantly, Google Books allows you to search within a volume and also across volumes (rather than across the entire WWW). The Google Book Project also makes hard to find and expensive monographs readily accessible to researchers. This Reading Room collects those relevant materials on one page.

NB: For bibliographic management and notetaking while reading, Zotero is highly recommended ("a free, easy-to-use Mozilla Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources"). For page snapshots and printing of Google Book pages, try Microsoft's snipping tool (paste text into Word -- or Zotero).

Primary Sources

Monographs and Essay Collections

• Spirits in Bondage: A Cycle of Lyrics. Heinemann, 1919 (full-text; also e-audiobook. This Lewis's first book, published under pseudonym "Clive Hamilton").
• Mere Christianity. 1955 (full-text; also copy and e-audiobook download)
• The World's Last Night, and Other Essays. Harcourt, Brace and Co, 1960 (full-text).
• Studies in Words. 2nd ed. Cambridge Univ., 1967.
• Grief Observed. Blackstone, 2006 (Netlibrary e-audiobook for Tyndale community only).
• The Discarded Image. An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Cambridge, 1962.
• Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Cambridge Univ., 1966.
• Selected Literary Essays. Ed. W. Hooper. Cambridge Univ., 1969.
• An Experiment in Criticism. Cambridge Univ., 1961.
• The Abolition of Man. 1944 (full-text; compare HarperCollins edition, 2000).
• Preface to Paradise Lost. Atlantic, 2005.
• The Personal Heresy: A Controversy (with E.M.W. Tillyard). Oxford Univ., 1939 (full-text pdf.).
• Spenser's Images of Life. Ed. A. Fowler. Cambridge Univ., 1967.
• Fern-seeds and Elephants and other Essays on Christianity. Ed. W. Hooper, 1975; also copy; originally entitled: "Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism," Christian Reflections, 1981.
• Letters to an American Lady. Ed. C.S. Kilby. Eerdmans, 1978.

• Christian Reflections. Ed. W. Hooper. Eerdmans, 1994.

Lectures and Articles

• "De Descriptione Temporum" (Lewis's Inaugural Lecture from The Chair of Mediaeval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University in 1954; full-text).
• "Beyond Personality, 1944" (Audio; BBC C.S. Lewis broadcast radio show)
• "We have no 'right to happiness'." N.d.
• "Miserable Offenders": An Interpretation of Prayer Book Language." N.d.
• "Screwtape proposes a Toast." N.d.
• "On Three Ways of Writing for Children." From Of Other Worlds, 1963.
• "The Literary Impact of the Authorized Version" (pdf). Athlon Press, 1950.
• "Three letters by C.S. Lewis to Sheldon Vanauken," 1950-51; other personal correspondence (samples).
• "Introduction." Athanasius: On the incarnation: the treatise De incarnatione Verbi Dei. St. Vladimir's Press, 1996. Pp. 3-12.
• "Reluctant Convert." In: The Spirit of Man: Great Stories and Experiences of Spiritual Crisis, Inspiration, and the Joy of Life. W. Burnett, ed. Ayer, 1958. Pp. 326-346.
• "The Inner Ring." 1944.
• "Is Progress Possible? Willing Slaves of the Welfare State." The Observer, 1958.
• "Friendship" (and copy). In: On the Contrary: Men and Women. Ed. M. Rainbolt and J. Fleetwood. SUNY Press, 1984. Pp. 43-50.
• "Priestess in the Church?" 1948. 5 Pp. (pdf). Later published in God in the Dock (Eerdmans, 1970).
• "Meditation in a Toolshed" (pdf).  Later published in God in the Dock (Eerdmans, 1970).
• "On the Reading of Old Books" (pdf). Later published in God in the Dock (Eerdmans, 1970).
• "Man or Rabbit?" (pdf). Later published in God in the Dock (Eerdmans, 1970).
• "What are we to make of Jesus Christ?" (pdf).Later published in God in the Dock (Eerdmans, 1970).
• "Bulverism." Later published in God in the Dock (Eerdmans, 1970).
• C.S. Lewis: Poems. 13 selected poems by C.S. Lewis, 2004.
• "Last Will of C.S. Lewis." 1961.

Other

• The Quotable Lewis. An Encyclopedic Selection of Quotes. Ed. W. Martindale and J. Root. Tyndale House, 1985.
• An Interview with C.S. Lewis, with Sherwood E. Wirt. 1963.
• The Business of Heaven: Daily Readings from C.S. Lewis. Ed. W. Hooper. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1984.
• A Year with C.S. Lewis. Daily Readings from his Classic Works. Ed. P. Klein. HarperCollins, 2003.

Adaptations

• Narnia: The Short Musical Version. Dramatization based on the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe). Adapted by J. Tasca. Dramatic Publishing, 1995.
• The Screw Tape Letters. Dramatization. Adapted by J. Forsyth. Dramatic Publishing, 1961.
• The Magician's Nephew. Dramatization. Adapted by A. Harris. Dramatic Publishing, 1984.
• Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. Dramatization. Adapted by Don Quinne. Dramatic Publishing, 1968.

Secondary Sources

Introductory Articles and Essays on C.S. Lewis

• Annotated Bibliography of Selected Works by C.S. Lewis, Montreat College, 1997.
• Dorsett, Lyle. "C.S. Lewis: A Profile of His Life." Christian History 7 (1985).
• "C.S. Lewis." In: The SCM Press A-Z of Evangelical Theology. Ed. R. Olson. SCM, 2005.  Pp. 119-122.
• Stackhouse, John. "C.S. Lewis: The Christian Individual." In: Making the Best of it: Following Christ in the Real World. Oxford, 2008. Pp. 45-80.
• Tolson, Jay. "God's Story-Teller. The Curious Life and Prodigious Influence of C.S. Lewis." US News, 2005.
• Selected encyclopedia and dictionary entries for C.S. Lewis (Gale Reference Library; Tyndale community only).
• ... under construction

Introductory Books and Biographies on C.S. Lewis

• Adey, Lionel. C.S. Lewis: Writer, Dreamer, Mentor. Eerdmans, 1998.
• Bramley, Perry C. C.S. Lewis: Life at the Center. Peake, 1996.
• Cort, Wayne A. C.S. Lewis Then and Now. Oxford Univ. Press, 2001. (Also full-text in ebrary; for Tyndale students only).
• Como, James. Remembering C.S. Lewis: Recollections of Those Who Knew Him. Ignatius, 2005.
• Edwards, Bruce. C.S. Lewis: Life, Works and Legacy.  Vol 1 (and copy); Vol. 2; Vol. 3; Vol. 4. Praeger, 2007.
• Gilbert, D., and C.S. Kilby. C.S. Lewis: Images of His World. Eerdmans, 2005.
• Gormley, Beatrice. C.S. Lewis: The Man Behind Narnia. Eerdmans, 1998.
• Gresham, Douglas. Jack's Life: The Life Story of C. S. Lewis, Vol. 1. B & H, 2005 (and copy).
• Harwood, Laurence. C.S. Lewis: My Godfather. Intervarsity, 2007.
• Kilby, Clyde S. The Christian World of C. S. Lewis. Eerdmans, 1964.
• Kort, Wesley. C.S. Lewis, Then and Now. Oxford Univeristy Press, 2001 (full-text Netlibrary ebook for Tyndale community only).
• Kreeft, Peter. C.S. Lewis for the Third Millenium. Ignatius, 1994.
• MacSwain, Robert, and Michael Ward, eds. The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010.

• Peters, Thomas C. Simply C.S. Lewis: A Beginner's Guide to his Life. Crossway, 1997.
• Root, J., W. Martindale, L. Washington. The Soul of C.S. Lewis: A Meditative Journey Through Twenty-Six of his Best-Loved Writings. Tyndale, 2010.
• Sims, John A. Missionaries to the skeptics: Christian apologists for the twentieth century : C.S. Lewis, Edward John Carnell, and Reinhold Niebuhr. Mercer, 1995.
• Sayer, George. Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis. Crossway, 1994.
• Vander Elst, Philip. C.S. Lewis: A Short Introduction. Continuum, 1996.
• White, Michael. C.S. Lewis: Creator of Narnia. Da Capo Press, 2005.
• Wilson, A.N. C.S. Lewis: A Biography. Norton, 1990.

Monographs and Collections on Aspects of C.S. Lewis's Work

• Aeschliman, Michael D. The Restitution of Man: C.S. Lewis and the Case Against Scientism. Eerdmans, 1998.
• Baggett, David, et al., ed. C.S. Lewis as Philosopher: Truth, Goodness and Beauty. InterVarsity, 2008.
• Bassham, G., and J. Walls, ed. The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch, and the Worldview. Open Court, 2005.
• Bloom, Harold, ed. C.S. Lewis. Bloom's Modern Critical Views. Infobase, 2006 (also copy). Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations: The Chronicles of Narnia. Infobase, 2006.
• Brind, Ronald K. A Guide to the C. S. Lewis Tour in Oxford. Janus, 2006.
• Burson, S. and J. Walls. C.S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer: Lessons for a New Century. InterVarsity, 1998.
• Conn, Marie A. C.S. Lewis and Human Suffering. Paulist, 2008.
• Connelly, Sean. Inklings of Heaven: C.S. Lewis and Eschatology. Gracewing, 2007.

• Dickerson, Matthew T., and David O'Hara. Narnia and the Fields of Arbol: The Environmental Vision of C.S. Lewis. Univ. Press of Kentucky, 2009 (also full-text in ebrary; for Tyndale students only).
• Downing, David. Into the Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles. Wiley & Sons, 2008; Into the Region of Awe: Mysticism in C.S. Lewis. InterVarsity, 2005 (also Netlibrary e-audiobook for Tyndale community only); The Most Reluctant Convert: C. S. Lewis's Journey to Faith. InterVarsity, 2004; Planets in Peril. A Critical Study of C.S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy. Univ. of Massachusetts, 1995.
• Duriez, Colin. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship. Paulist, 2003.
• Edwards, Bruce. Further Up And Further in: Understanding C. S. Lewis's the Lion, the Witch, And the Wardrobe. B & H, 2005 (and copy). See also Edwards, Sundry Essays on C.S. Lewis (personal website);  Not a tame lion: unveil Narnia through the eyes of Lucy, Peter, and other characters created by C. S. Lewis. Tyndale, 2005.
• Gilchrist, K. J. A Morning After War: C.S. Lewis and WWI. Peter Lang, 2005.
• Glaspey, Terry. The Spiritual Legacy of C.S. Lewis. Cumberland House, 1996 (copy with title: Not a Tame Lion, 2005).
• Hardy, Elizabeth Baird. Milton, Spenser and the Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis Novels. MacFarland, 2007.
• Hinten, Marvin D. The Keys to the Chronicles: Unlocking the Symbols of C. S. Lewis's Narnia. B & H, 2005.
• Kawano, Roland. C.S. Lewis: Always a Poet.  University of America Press, 2004.
• King, Don W. C.S. Lewis, Poet. The Legacy of his Poetic Impulse. Rev'd ed. Kent State, 2001.
• Kreeft, Peter. Between Heaven and Hell: A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death With John F. Kennedy, C. S. Lewis & Aldous Huxley. 2nd ed. InterVarsity, 2008 (and 1st edition, 1982).
• Lindsley, Arthur. C.S. Lewis's Case for Christ: Insights from Reason, Imagination, and Faith. InterVarsity, 2005.
• Lindskoog, Kathryn. Sleuthing C.S. Lewis: More Light in the Shadowlands. Mercer University, 2001.
• Lobdell, Jared. The Scientifiction Novels of C.S. Lewis: Space and Time in the Ransom Stories. McFarland, 2004 (and copy).
• Meilaender, Gilbert. The Taste for the Other: The Social and Ethical Thought of C.S. Lewis. Rev'd ed. Regent College, 2003.
• Mills, David. The Pilgrim's Guide: C. S. Lewis and the Art of Witness. Eerdmans, 1998.
• Mühling, Markus. A Theological Journey into Narnia: An Analysis of the Message Beneath the Text of "The lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2006 (also German original).
• Myers, Doris T. C.S. Lewis in Context. Kent State University Press, 1998; Bareface: A Guide to C.S. Lewis's Last Novel. Univ. of Missouri, 2004. (Also full-text via ebrary; Tyndale students only).
• Nicholi, Armand M., Jr. The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life. Free Press, 2002.
• Pearce, Joseph. C.S. Lewis and the Catholic Church. Ignatius Press, 2003.
• Purtill, Richard. Lord of the Elves and Eldiles. Fantasy and Philosophy in C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein. 2nd ed. Ignatius, 2006; C.S. Lewis' Case for the Christian Faith. Ignatius, 1981.
• Reppert, Victor. C.S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea: A Philosophical Defense of Lewis's Argument from Reason. InterVarsity, 2003.
• Rogers, Jonathan. The World According to Narnia: Christian Meaning in C.S. Lewis's Beloved Chronicles. E-audio Book. Blackstone, 2007 (available as Netlibrary e-audio book to Tyndale community only).
• Ryken, Leland, and Marjorie Lamp Mead. A Reader's Guide Through the Wardrobe: Exploring C.S. Lewis's Classic Story. IVP, 2005.
• Samons, Martha C. War of the fantasy worlds: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien on Art and Imagination. ABC-CLIO, 2009.

• Schakel, Peter J. Imagination and the Arts in C.S. Lewis: Journeying to Narnia and other Worlds. Univ. of Missouri, 2002; The Way into Narnia: A Reader's Guide. Eerdmans, 2005.
• Schwartz, Sanford. C.S. Lewis on the Final Frontier. Science and the Supernatural in the Space Trilogy. Oxford Univ. Press, 2009.
• Valarde, Peter. Conversations with C.S. Lewis. Imaginative Discussions about Life, Christianity and God. Intervarsity, 2008.
• Vaus, Will. Mere Theology: A Guide to the Thought of C.S. Lewis. InterVarsity, 2008.
• Walsh, Milton. Second Friends: C. S. Lewis and Ronald Knox in Conversation. Ignatius, 2008.
• Wielenberg, Erik J. God and the Reach of Reason: C.S. Lewis, David Hume, and Bertrand Russell. Cambridge, 2008 (full-text Netlibrary ebook available to Tyndale community)
• Williams, Donald T. Mere Humanity: G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien on the Human Condition. B & H, 2006.

Articles, Essays

• Abraham, William. "C.S. Lewis and the Conversion of the West." Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity (March-April 1998).
• Albu, Rodica. "C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man." Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 15 (2006) [pdf].
• Christian History and Biography 7 (1985). [The entire issue focuses on C.S. Lewis].
• Clasper, Paul . "C.S. Lewis's Contribution to a 'Missionary Theology': An Asian Perspective." The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society 141 (1981).
• Cole, Darrell. "The Problem of War: C.S. Lewis on Pacifism, War and the Christian Warrior."Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity (April 2003).
• Dodson, Mary. "Capturing C.S. Lewis's 'Mere' Christianity. Another Look at Shadowlands." Journal of Religion and Film 6, no. 1 (April 2002).
• Ferngren, Gary. "C. S. Lewis on Creation and Evolution: The Acworth Letters, 1944-1960." Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 48 (March 1996): 28-33.
• Fowler, Alastair. "C.S. Lewis: Supervisor." Yale Review 91, no. 4 (2003), 64-80.
• Haldane, J.B.S. "A Scientist Strikes Back: Two Attacks on C.S. Lewis." From: Everything Has a History (1951): 249-267.
• Hall, Douglas John. "Appendix: The Problem of Pain, by C.S. Lewis," in: God and Human Suffering. Fortress, 1987. Pp. 158-169.
• Houston, James. "The Prayer-Life of C.S. Lewis." Crux  24, no. 1 (March 1988): 2-10 (and copy); "C.S. Lewis's Concern for the Future of Humanity." Knowing and Doing (Spring 2006).
• Jeffrey, David L. "Reading Wisely, Reading Well" and "Reading the Bible with C.S. Lewis," in: Houses of the Interpreter: Reading Scripture, Reading Culture. Baylor, 2003. Pp. 173-180; 181-194.
• Jordan, Gregory E. "The Invention of Man: A Response to C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man." Journal of Evolution and Technology 19, no. 1 (September 2008): 35-41.
• LaBar, Martin. "A World is not Made to Last Forever. The Bioethics of C.S. Lewis." JASA 35 (June 1983): 104-107.

• Lindskoog, K., and G.F. Ellwood. "C.S. Lewis: Natural Law, the Law in our Hearts." Christian Century (Nov. 14, 1984): 1059.
• Linzey, Andrew. C.S. Lewis's Theology of Animals. Anglican Theological Review (Winter 1998).
• Loades, Ann. "The Grief of C.S. Lewis." Theology Today 46, no. 3 (Oct. 1989): 269-276.
• Lutheran Theological Review 19 (2006-07). [pdf; the entire issue focuses on C.S. Lewis].
• MacDonald, Michael H. "In Defence of Permanent Things." Lecture, Seattle Pacific University, 1986.
• Manlove, Colin N. "C.S. Lewis (1898-1968) and Perelandra." In: Modern Fantasy: Five Studies. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1978. Pp. 99-151.
• Markus, Louis. "Myth Matters. Why C.S. Lewis's books remain models for Christian apologists in the 21st century." Christianity Today, April 23, 2001.
• Martindale, Wayne. "C.S. Lewis, Reluctant Churchman." Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity (Summer-Fall 1988); "C.S. Lewis on Gender Language in the Bible: A Caution." Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity (Summer, 1990).
• Meilaender, G. "Theology in Stories: C. S. Lewis and the Narrative Quality of Experience." Word and World 1, no. 3 (1981): 222-229; "Psychoanalyzing C.S. Lewis." Christian Century (May 16-23, 1990): 525-529.
• Mitchell, Chris. "Mere Christianity: The Book, the idea and the legacy." Five [e-audio] lectures, presented Feb. 19-20, 2010.
• Northey, Wayne. "Failure of the Non-Violent Gospel." Catholic New Times (Oct. 24, 2004).
• Paulsell, Stephanie. "Indoor Exploration: Reading as Spiritual Practise for Children and Youth;" "Tell them Stories." Lectures given at Princeton Seminary, 2005.
• Quinn, Dermot. "Chesterton, Lewis, and the uses of Enchantment." The Chronicle of the Oxford University C.S. Lewis Society 3, no. 2 (May 2006):4-10 [pdf].
• Simonson, Martin. "The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings: Similarities and Differences Between Two Children of the Great War." E-F@Bulations (June 2008).
• Smietana, Bob. "C.S. Lewis Superstar: How a Reserved British Intellectual with a Checkered Pedigree Became a Rock Star for Evangelicals." Christianity Today, Nov. 23, 2005.
• Townsend, James. "Grace and the Arts: C.S. Lewis's Theology." Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society 13, 24 (Spring 2000).
• Wright, N.T. "Simply Lewis: Reflections on a Master Apologist after 60 Years." Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity (March 2007).

Other

• See large database of papers presented at Taylor University's C.S. Lewis Society Colloquium, including the following pages: Resources, Inklings Forever, vol 7 (2010), vol. 6 (2008), vol. 4 (2004).

• See the "Into the Wardrobe" site's collection of academic papers.

• See the C.S. Lewis Institute's Reflections Archive and Legacy Recordings (e-audio lectures)

• C.S. Lewis: 20th Century Christian Knight (website with extensive links by Dave Armstrong)

• See Tyndale's eJournal Database (note: for Tyndale students and faculty only); see both EBSCOhost database and JSTOR. See also list of Tyndale's academic ejournals with full-text articles for download.

C.S. Lewis on the WWW

• The Centre for the Study of C.S. Lewis and Friends (Taylor University)
• The C.S. Lewis Institute
• The C.S. Lewis Society of California
• C.S. Lewis Foundation (Oxford)
• Lewisiana (Netherlands), with Bibliography of C.S. Lewis, and  Bibliography of C.S. Lewis's Essays, Short-Stories and Other Short Prose as published in collected edition, 1939-2002 (Lewisiana.nl)